South Asia

The Loss of Hindustan: The Invention of India by Manan Ahmed Asif, London: Harvard University Press, 2020; pp 321, ₹599.

Ongoing political crisis in Nepal stems from the deep divisions in the polity across ideological orientations and along social, regional and personality fault lines. Decisions taken by the president, seemingly favouring the prime minister, entail violation of the constitutional scheme and parliamentary practices. India, driven by its immediate strategic interests to contain growing Chinese influence, seems to be tilting in favour of the prevailing authoritarian and unconstitutional regime.

The Bangladesh model shows how mutually reinforcing economic and social policies foster inclusive growth.

“Infrastructural ephemera” as a set of spontaneous affective relations critical to the success of large-scale projects of urban governance in the urban South are examined. The deep contradictions underscoring the labours of women employed as community health workers in Lyari Town, Karachi, at a time of intense gang violence, are explored. Drawing on two years of field research as a polio vaccinator in Lyari, the reach (and limits) of daptability, skills, and labour (physical, mental, and emotional) involved in the maintenance and repair of a fragile public health infrastructure are explored. Maintaining “community health” also involves dealing mortal and aspirational death to those that provide infrastructural labour to the project of giving life.

The North East has historically suffered from poor transport connectivity within and between the seven states as well as with the rest of India and neighbouring countries. This has not only impeded everyday life and livelihoods but also regional development and national security.